


Reunion

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Trope Bingo Round 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 17:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5099132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Weinbrenner's failed experiment, Nathan thought he would never see Jack again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkJediQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/gifts).



> Written for **DarkJediQueen** as a small token of thanks!
> 
> Meets: **trope_bingo** prompt: reunion

The soldiers at Camp Eureka were closing in on them and Nathan had still not located Doctor Trevor Grant. He had stolen Fargo's cellphone and though Fargo could be incredibly annoying, he was still the best assistant Nathan had found in a long time. Better than Haberman. So Nathan didn't want to leave him behind unless presented with no other options.

He caught sight of Lupo and Allison heading into the crowded dance hall where most of the scientists and off-duty soldiers were having a good time. Hopefully they would be able to hide in the crowd as the last few minutes ticked down, but as the deadline approached with no sign of Grant, Nathan could feel his chances of saving Fargo slipping away. 

When his cell vibrated in his hand, previously muted to avoid drawing attention to him, Nathan knew it was too late. Henry had no choice but to activate the Bridge device or risk trapping them in 1947. Hopefully a single push of the button that would send them back to Founder's Day sixty years in the future.

Nathan breathed a sigh of relief when the world reformed around him and he found himself standing in the center of main street.

"Nice costume, Doctor Stark," Vince remarked in passing. "Very authentic."

Nathan held back a laugh because Vince really had no idea, but the mere sight of him and other familiar faces in the crowd sent relief flooding through Nathan. They were back. He saw Allison, Lupo and Henry coming towards him, and closed his eyes with mixed feelings when he saw Fargo with him.

"What happened?"

Henry glanced at Fargo. "I couldn't leave him behind so I took a... a calculated risk, and held onto him tight."

"As much as I appreciate you saving my assistant, you could have trapped both of you back there." Nathan waved of any response from Henry because it was moot now. He glanced around quickly. "Need I remind you of the need to keep this strictly between ourselves to avoid being sanctioned."

They were back in their own time and everyone was accounted for, except that's when he noticed the first anomaly, casually walking down the center of main street towards him. Nathan blinked rapidly several times, not quite able to believe his eyes. Carter was dead; killed inside Weinbrenner's time chamber when he accelerated the photon manually. There hadn't been a body but all the math had pointed to Carter being deleted from time from that point onwards. There was nothing Nathan could do to bring him back, which meant this was not the same time line.

Only years of experience kept him from choking up, because he hadn't expected to miss Carter so damn much. "Carter."

"That's Sheriff Carter to you." He turned on a megawatt smile for Allison, who was staring at Carter as if she had seen a ghost, which from her point of view was true. "Hey, Allison. What's-?" The smile faltered almost immediately when he seemed to catch sight of something - or someone - beyond her. "F-Fargo?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. In the original timeline Fargo had offered to set the clock manually but Nathan had insisted on doing it, only for Carter to slip past while he wasn't paying attention and lock himself inside the chamber.

"You know it's the right choice," he had said. "See you around, Nathan."

Nathan had only recently accepted that he might have been a little in love with the sheriff - just like the rest of the town. He'd finally accepted that he'd blown his only chance to get to know Carter when he started the stupid rivalry between them; lost a chance to be friends, though his heart whispered that they could have been much, much more. He'd reconciled himself to Carter's death, moving through the stages of grief, and now here he was, alive and whole, with that same bright smile and easy air.

And Nathan was pissed.

Jack had died in his place, leaving him with the terrible duty of informing all Jack's friends and loved ones of his sacrifice. He'd stood impassive as Zoe beat his chest with her small fists until Henry wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his shirt. He'd seen the hurt and loss in Henry's eyes, and the accusation in Allison's dark eyes before she learned the truth. Even so she still blamed him for Jack's death, for letting Eva Thorne's machinations set those terrible wheels in motion with her mass redactions.

There was no coming back from losing Carter, for any of them. No reconciliation and re-marriage to Allison, not even for the sake of their daughter. It had changed Fargo, making him less willing to push a button without double checking the consequences first. It left Henry far too often alone, without even the consoling presence of Jack's daughter, for her mother had taken her back to L.A. after the empty-cask funeral.

It took three weeks of sitting at the bar in Cafe Diem for him to realize he was subconsciously waiting for Jack to appear just so he could rile him, and be riled equally in turn. That night he'd gone home, downed half a bottle of whiskey, and cried when the alcohol loosened the last of his rigid control and denial, allowing him to see clearly what he had lost.

Seeing Jack again made Nathan want to curse himself for all the missed opportunities in another timeline, and it took all his control now not to grab hold of Jack Carter and shake him... or hug him. He could see the others barely holding back from doing the same, except for Fargo.

"Whoa!" Jack was laughing, allowing the hug from Fargo, but then this was one reunion they could get away with.

Nathan smiled tightly.

"Looks like you're going to need a 924/B... in triplicate."

"A runaway robot?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "That's a 942/A." And all his anger began to melt away at the confused look on Jack's face, an expression he never thought he would miss until he lost Jack. "A resurrection form," he added for clarification.

"Oh. Like the one we filled in for Susan Perkins... and Walter Perkins."

"That will be the one."

"Great. More paperwork." He tried to glare at Fargo but Nathan could tell his heart wasn't really in it, just as happy to see Fargo as Nathan was to see Jack. "Well, come on Fargo. Let's get it over with."

As far as Nathan was concerned this timeline was already exponentially better than their original universe because, here, Jack was alive, though it made him wonder what other differences they would find. None of that seemed to matter to him as he drank in the sight of a living, breathing Jack Carter, watching as Carter started to turn away.

"Carter," he called out on impulse. "If you're not busy this evening, I'll be having dinner at Cafe Diem. Join me."

Jack seemed taken aback for a moment, but the familiar flush of his cheeks and dilation of his pupils left Nathan just as surprised. Jack's face was so expressive even a child could read it, and yet Nathan had missed all those signs of interest in him until now.

"Okay... but you're buying," Jack stated firmly, pointing a finger at Nathan.

"Fine."

He watched Jack walk away with Fargo in tow, waiting until Jack had disappeared inside the Sheriff's Office before remembering Henry, Allison and Lupo had witnessed the whole exchange. Henry and Allison looked happier than he'd seen either of them in months but Lupo had a shark-grin that made even him slightly nervous.

"Enjoy your date," she said, still smiling, and he smiled back at her.

"I'm sure I will."

And if he had his way it would be the first of many dates, but first they had a new timeline to check out. 

END  
 


End file.
